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  • Newgarden executes final lap pass on O’Ward for second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory

    Newgarden executes final lap pass on O’Ward for second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory

    A year after becoming the 75th competitor overall to win the Indianapolis 500, Josef Newgarden doubled down as a two-time champion of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing after winning the rain-delayed 108th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, following a final lap overtake on Pato O’Ward.

    The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion from Hendersonville, Tennessee, led six times for 26 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside his two Team Penske teammates, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, on the front row. Leading for the first time at the halfway mark on Lap 100, Newgarden withstood a series of pit strategies amongst his rivaled competitors and on-track chaos to remain in race-winning contention in the closing stages.

    Then after swapping track positions with Scott Dixon and Arrow McLaren’s duo of Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi in the closing laps, Newgarden, who reassumed the lead from Rossi with seven laps remaining, was left to duel against a hard-charging O’Ward for the victory. Despite regaining the lead from O’Ward with five laps remaining, Newgarden then lost the lead to O’Ward at the start of the final lap, but managed to gain a draft to overtake him and reclaim the lead exiting the backstretch. The pass was enough for Newgarden to muscle away and claim the checkered flag to become the first competitor in 22 years to repeat as an Indianapolis 500 champion.

    Following a two-day qualifying session that occurred between May 18-19 and that determined the starting lineup for the main event, Scott McLaughlin achieved his first Indianapolis 500 pole position after posting the fastest four-lap average-qualifying speed at 234.220 mph in two minutes, 33.7017 seconds. McLaughlin shared the front row with his two Team Penske teammates and former Indy 500 champions Will Power (233.917 mph in two minutes, 33.9007 seconds) and Josef Newgarden (233.808 mph in two minutes, 33.9726 seconds), which marked the first time three Team Penske entries swept the front row for the 500 since 1988.

    The only competitor who did not qualify for the event was rookie Nolan Siegel, who wrecked his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara-Honda entry while attempting to race his way into the field during last Sunday’s qualifying session.

    During the pace laps and warmup session, early trouble struck for Callum Ilott, who pitted due to a mechanical issue to his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet, though he was able to return to the track and remain on the lead lap for the event’s start.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced amid a four-hour delay due to heavy precipitation, pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin launched ahead from teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden along with the rest of the field to lead through the first two turns.

    Shortly after, however, the event’s first caution period flew after Tom Blomqvist hit the rumble strips in Turn 1, spun and came across the path of Marcus Ericsson as Ericsson, who started on the final row in this year’s Indy 500, nearly got airborne as he wrecked his No. 28 Delaware Life/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda both into Blomqvist’s No. 66 Arctic Wolf/Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda and across the outside wall. Amid the wreckage, Pietro Fittipaldi, who was trying to avoid the wreckage involving Ericsson and Blomqvist, made contact with Ilott as he spun his No. 30 5-Hour Energy/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda in between the first two turns before he backed his car against the outside wall. The carnage was enough to take Ericsson, Fittipaldi and Blomqvist out of contention while Ilott continued.

    During the caution period, Marcus Armstrong’s second career start in the Indianapolis 500 came to an early end due to the New Zealander losing power and having smoke spewing out of his No. 11 Ridgeline Performance Lubricants/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda during the caution laps, which forced him to pit and retire.

    As the event restarted under green on the ninth lap, McLaughin fended off teammates Power and Newgarden for a second time through the frontstretch to retain the lead as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. In the midst of the field fanning out, Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion who was piloting the No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet as part of his ‘Double Duty’ effort that included competing in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway later in the day, lost a bevy of spots while running in the top 10 and was getting overtaken by oncoming competitors after missing a gear to launch at the start as he also made slight contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay. The field continued to scatter, fan out and jostle for early spots through the backstretch while McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of his two Team Penske teammates at the Lap 10 mark.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, McLaughlin was leading by less than a tenth of a second over teammate Power and nearly half a second over teammate Newgarden while Santino Ferrucci and Alexander Rossi were in the top five. Behind, Rinus VeeKay occupied sixth place ahead of Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood while Alex Palou, Takuma Sato, Helio Castroneves, Kyle Larson and Ryan Hunter-Reay were in the top 15. Behind, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter, Sting Ray Robb and rookie Kyffin Simpson trailed in the top 20.

    Six laps later, the caution returned after Katherine Legge, who started on the final row, had smoke billowing out of her No. 51 e.l.f/Dale Coyne Racing Dallara-Honda as her fourth bid to win the Indy 500 came to an end. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McLaughin pitted for service while the following names that included Sting Ray Robb, Conor Daly, Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal remained on the track as part of an early strategic plan. Following the pit stops, McLaughlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammates Power and Newgarden while Ferrucci, Rossi, Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Herta, Palou and Sato followed suit in the top 10.

    During the next restart period on Lap 26, Daly overtook Robb from the outside lane through the frontstretch to assume the lead. Robb would retain second through the first two turns and through the backstretch while McLaughlin settled in fourth place as he was running in between Lundgaard and Rahal while Ferrucci was trying to crack the top five amid more jostling of spots within the field. The event’s third caution flew a lap later after Linus Lundqvist, who was running in the middle of the field, got loose and hit the outside wall in Turn 1, which knocked him and his No. 8 American Legion/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda team out of contention.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 32, McLaughlin muscled his No. 3 Pennzoil/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet past Daly’s No. 24 Polkadot/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. Behind, Ferrucci made his way into the runner-up spot followed by Daly, Robb and Lundgaard as the field fanned out to multiple lanes just past the backstretch before navigating through Turns 3 and 4 to complete the following lap. Daly would then overtake Ferrucci to claim the runner-up spot by Lap 34 before overtaking McLaughlin through the frontstretch to reassume the lead two laps later.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Daly was leading by two-tenths of a second over McLaughlin while third-place Ferrucci trailed by seven-tenths of a second. Robb and Rossi trailed in the top five within a second as Newgarden, Herta, Lundgaard, Palou and O’Ward were scored in the top 10 ahead of Rosenqvist, Larson, Dixon and Rahal while Power dropped to 15th.

    Towards Lap 38, Robb, who was running in the top five, pitted his No. 41 Goodheart/A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Honda under green. Daly would surrender the lead to pit under green during the following lap as McLaughlin cycled back into the lead as he was being pursued by Ferrucci, Ross, Herta and Newgarden.

    At the one-quarter mark on Lap 50, McLaughlin continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Ferrucci while Rossi, Herta and Newgarden continued to trail in the top five. Behind, Palou occupied sixth place ahead of Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Larson and Rasmussen while Dixon, VeeKay, Power, Sato and Augustin Canapino were in the top 15. Meanwhile, teammates Lundgaard and Rahal were mired back in 25th and 26th, respectively, after both pitted a few laps earlier.

    Five laps later, the event’s fourth caution flew after Felix Rosenqvist, who was running in the top 10, pulled his No. 60 SiriusXM/Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda off the track in the backstretch and retired due to an engine failure, which marks the third Honda engine failure in the event. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McLaughlin returned to pit road for service while Daly and Robb remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid a tight squeeze amongst the leaders, Rossi exited in first place by a hair over McLaughlin as Herta, Newgarden, Palou, Ferrucci, Rasmussen, Larson, VeeKay and Power followed suit in the top 10.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 64 featured the field fanning out through the frontstretch and prior to reaching the start/finish line as McLaughlin made a bold three-wide move beneath Daly and Robb to move into the lead entering the first turn. Robb would then return to the top of the leaderboard two laps later after he overtook McLaughlin through the frontstretch. Robb would retain the lead by the Lap 70 mark and by four-tenths of a second over McLaughlin while Daly, Herta and Newgarden trailed in the top five.

    Then on Lap 85, the caution flew after Herta, who was running second and was deemed a potential favorite of the event, got loose and spun backwards into the outside wall in Turn 1, where he damaged the front wing of his No. 26 Gainbridge/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda. Despite sustaining minimal damage to his entry, Herta would have his car towed to the garage, where he would return to the track following extensive repairs and being multiple laps down.

    During the exchange of pit stops as nearly the entire field led by McLaughlin pitted during the caution period, Kyle Kirkwood ran into the rear of Ilott, which cause Ilott to overshoot his pit stall and into Ed Carpenter’s pit stall, which caused Carpenter to jam on the brakes and stall his car while waiting for Ilott to be pushed back into his respective stall.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 91, Rinus VeeKay, who was among a handful of competitors who did not pit and inherited the lead, was quickly overtaken by Lundgaard for the lead entering the first turn. Behind, Newgarden muscled his way up to fourth place as he settled behind Robb while Ferrucci and Daly battled for fifth place in front of McLaughlin, Palou, Rossi and Larson.

    Seven laps later, VeeKay pitted his No. 21 askROI/Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet under green. Lundgaard would also pit his No. 45 Hyvee/Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda another three laps later as Newgarden proceeded to lead the halfway mark on Lap 100. By then, Ferrucci moved up to second as McLaughlin, Robb and Daly cycled up into the top five ahead of Palou, Larson, Rossi, Castroneves and Rasmussen.

    Six laps later, the event’s sixth caution flew after Ryan Hunter-Reay, who gained a draft to overtake Scott Dixon through the backstretch for 17th place, got blocked and forced into the backstretch’s grass amid contact with Dixon, which resulted with Hunter-Reay doing a full 360 spin through the grass and the racing surface, but managing to straighten his car through the grass without coming back across oncoming traffic as Hunter-Reay limped his damaged No. 23 VensureHR/Four Sixes Racing Beef/101 Studios/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara-Chevrolet back to his pit stall, where he would retire.

    The following restart period with 87 laps remaining did not last long as Marco Andretti, who was battling for a top-20 spot, slipped sideways and backed his No. 98 Mapei/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda into the outside wall in Turn 1 as his 19th bid to win his first Indianapolis 500 came to a late end.

    The ensuing restart period with 82 laps remaining generated a different outcome as McLaughlin muscled ahead with the lead of a tight battle involving teammate Newgarden, Ferrucci, Rossi, Palou, Larson, Castroneves, Canapino and Rasmussen entering the first turn. With Newgarden retaining second, McLaughlin also retained the lead by four-tenths of a second with 80 laps remaining.

    At the three-quarters mark with 75 laps remaining, McLaughlin retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Rossi followed by Newgarden, Ferrucci and Palou while Larson, Rasmussen, Castroneves, Canapino and Rahal were in the top 10. Behind, Dixon was in 11th ahead of Simpson, VeeKay, O’Ward and Daly while Power, Sato, Robb, Ilott and Kirkwood were mired in the top 20.

    Two laps later, Newgarden cycled his No. 2 Shell Powering Progress/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet past teammate McLaughlin to reassume the lead through the frontstretch. Newgarden, however, would then pit under green with 70 laps remaining before McLaughlin pitted during the following lap. During McLaughlin’s pit service, the following names that included Larson, Canapino, Simpson and Ilott also pitted. Amid the pit stops, however, Larson, who had methodically driven his way into the top five prior to pitting, was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding while entering pit road. Larson, who smoked his front tires when he was penalized for speeding, would serve the penalty with nearly 65 laps remaining as more names pitted under green.

    Back on the track, O’Ward, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Dixon. O’Ward would then pit from the lead with 63 laps remaining, which moved Dixon into the lead ahead of VeeKay, Daly, Sato, Robb, Kirkwood, Lundgaard and Carpenter as McLaughlin led a large group of competitors who recently pitted, among which included Rossi, Palou, Newgarden and Ferrucci. During the next two laps, Rossi navigated past McLaughlin and Palou to move into 10th place while scored the first competitor who recently pitted.

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Dixon pitted under green as Daly cycled into the lead. Daly would then pit with nearly 55 laps remaining, which enabled Robb to assume the lead ahead of Lundgaard and O’Ward while Dixon and Daly trailed by more than 35 seconds in the top five.

    Then with 54 laps remaining, the caution flew after Power, who was racing within the top 20 and battling Rasmussen, slipped sideways and spun backwards into the outside wall in Turn 1, which he slapped and destroyed the right side of his No. 12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet.

    Down to the final 45 laps of the event, Dixon briefly led the field back to green flag racing conditions before he was placed in the middle of an Arrow McLaren sandwich through the frontstretch as Rossi overtook both teammate O’Ward and Dixon into the lead. Behind, Newgarden, who restarted eighth, rocketed his way up to fourth place as he was ahead of Palou, VeeKay, McLaughlin and Daly as Rossi retained the lead. During the following lap, teammate O’Ward overtook Rossi to assume the lead with Dixon retaining third. With McLaughlin mired in seventh, Rossi and O’Ward traded spots for a second time through the frontstretch as the former reassumed the lead. O’Ward and Rossi swapped positions for a third time through the frontstretch with 42 laps remaining as Rossi returned to the lead.

    With 35 laps remaining, Rossi, who kept swapping the lead with his Arrow McLaren teammate O’Ward through the frontstretch, reassumed the lead while third-place Dixon trailed by within seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Newgarden and Palou trailed in the top five ahead of McLaughlin while VeeKay, Daly, Ferrucci and Kirkwood were scored in the top 10.

    Three laps later, however, Rossi surrendered his back-and-forth trade for the lead with teammate O’Ward to pit his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet under green. Another two laps later, Dixon made his move beneath O’Ward to move his No. 9 PNC Bank/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda into the lead as Sato and Robb peeled off the track to pit under green. Newgarden, McLaughlin and Daly would pit during the next lap before Dixon, Canapino, O’Ward, Castroneves and Lundgaard pitted with 38 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Dixon emerged ahead of Newgarden, Rossi and O’Ward while Kirkwood, who was among nine front-runners who has yet to pit, was leading.

    With 25 laps remaining, Dixon overtook Newgarden through the frontstretch to reclaim the top spot as the competitor who recently pitted despite being scored in seventh place. By then, Kirkwood was still leading ahead of Ilott, Rahal, Carpenter, Larson and Simpson, all of whom have yet to pit under green. Dixon and Newgarden would spend the next five laps gaining drafts and swapping spots over one another through the frontstretch as they moved up the leaderboard into fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, Larson, who cycled into the lead a lap earlier after Ed Carpenter pitted, was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Simpson with 20 laps remaining as Newgarden, Rossi and Dixon moved up into the top five.

    Four laps later, Larson surrendered the lead to pit under green. Once Simpson pitted during the next lap, Newgarden cycled into the lead as he held a three-tenths of a second advantage over a hard-charging Rossi, with Dixon and O’Ward also trailing by within seven-tenths of a second. Rossi would then overtake Newgarden from the outside lane through the frontstretch to lead with 13 laps remaining. Behind, O’Ward overtook Dixon for third place while Rossi was trying to muscle away with the lead.

    Down to the final 12 laps of the event, Newgarden rocketed past Rossi from the inside lane through the frontstretch to reassume the lead while O’Ward was trying to close in on teammate Rossi for the runner-up spot. With Dixon trailing in fourth place by more than a second and Rossi trying to close back towards Newgarden’s rear bumper, Newgarden continued to lead by two-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining.

    With nine laps remaining, Rossi gained another draft on Newgarden to reassume the lead through the frontstretch. As Rossi led by three-tenths of a second during the next lap, O’Ward was trying to fend off Dixon for third place while Kirkwood, Palou and McLaughlin trailed from fifth to seventh, respectively.

    Then with seven laps remaining, Newgarden reclaimed the lead while O’Ward seized an opportunity to rocket past teammate Rossi through the frontstretch as he assumed the runner-up spot. O’Ward then made his move beneath Newgarden to assume the lead through the frontstretch with five laps remaining before Newgarden reassumed the top spot during the proceeding lap. Newgarden would proceed to retain the lead by a narrow margin over O’Ward during the next two laps.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, O’Ward made his move to the outside lane and overtook Newgarden to assume the lead, where he retained it through the first two turns. Then while trying to muscle away as he swerved his car to the left and right to not give Newgarden any drafting momentum, the latter was able to gain enough momentum to make a bold move to the outside lane entering Turn 3 and zip by O’Ward. With the lead back within his grasp and O’Ward losing ground, Newgarden was able to muscle away with the lead for two final turns and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his second consecutive checkered flag at the Greatest Spectacle of Racing in Indianapolis, Indiana.

    With the victory, Newgarden became the 21st competitor overall to win the Indianapolis 500 multiple times and the first to win the event in back-to-back seasons since Helio Castroneves made the last accomplishment between 2001 and 2002. The 2024 Indy 500 victory marks Newgarden’s 30th of his NTT IndyCar Series career and the first of the season, which made him the fourth winner through the season’s first five events on the schedule.

    The victory served as a redemptive moment for Newgarden and his No. 2 Team Penske team as they were disqualified from winning the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg due to violating rules involving their use of the push-to-pass system. The disqualification also affected their teammate Will Power, who initially finished third in the event. Earlier this month, Team Penske suspended several key members from their organization, including managing director Ron Ruzewski and team president Tim Cindric.

    “[The critics] can say whatever they want after this point. I don’t care anymore,” Newgarden said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I’m just so proud of the team. They crushed it. They came here with the fastest cars. We worked our tails off, Team Chevy brought it. [Race engineer] Luke [Mason], Tim [Cindric], they’re not here today, but they’re a huge part of this. I’m just so proud of everybody for Team Penske. That’s the way I wanted to win the [race] right there.”

    “I knew we could win this race again and [it was] just a matter of getting it right,” Newgarden added in Victory Lane. “There’s no better way to win a race than that. I got to give it up to Pato [O’Ward] as well. He’s an incredibly clean driver. It takes two people to make that work, so it’s not just a good pass. It’s also someone that you’re working with that’s incredible clean. He could’ve easily won this race too, but it just fell our way. I just went for it. I said, ‘Alright, the car’s good enough. You guys have done your job Let me drive to the front.’ [The team] backed me the entire way. You can’t win this race without a great car. It’s the best car in the field, so hats off to the team. It’s always a team win. Today epitomizes the team victory. It’s a team win on the pole, it’s a team win today. I’m thankful for Roger Penske. He’s stood by me. He’s the man, he’s a legend. There’s no one that I’ve ever met that cares more about the fan and the experience than that man. I promise you, he cares so much about this place and I’m thankful for him.”

    In addition, Newgarden, who achieved his second Indy 500 victory following a last-lap pass for a second consecutive season after overtaking Marcus Ericsson for the win a year ago, had the honors of bestowing the record-setting 20th Indianapolis 500 victory to team owner Roger Penske, who is also the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “It’s a dream come true,” Penske said. “You think about all these fans that were here today. [They] Waited five hours to see that race. Unbelievable finish. I never saw one car get ahead by a couple of seconds. For me, it’s a job we love to do. We love to win. I think this puts away a lot of the things we talked about who we are and where we are. We’re winners.”

    As Newgarden fought back tears of joy and relief in Victory Lane, O’Ward, who led 12 laps and was striving to become the first Mexican competitor to win the Indy 50, fought back tears of disappointment on pit road after settling in the runner-up spot in the 500 for a second time in three seasons.

    “It’s hard to put it into words,” O’Ward said. “I’m proud of the work that we did today. We recovered. We went back, we went forward, we went back. Some people were driving like maniacs. We had so many near race-enders and [we were] just so close again. So close. I put that car through things I never thought it was going to be able to do. Somehow I came out the other side of the corner. It’s just so painful when you put so much into it and [we were] two corners short. [This track] owes me nothing. I much rather have finished the race rather than compared to last year, but it’s always a heartbreak whenever you’re just so close, especially when it’s not the first time. You just don’t know how many opportunities like that you have.”

    Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, came home in third place followed by Alexander Rossi, both of whom led 12 laps apiece, while Alex Palou, the 2024 Sonsio Grand Prix winner and two-time series champion, finished fifth.

    “[The finish] was like a win, obviously,” Dixon said. “We had some ups and downs  through the race. We definitely just didn’t have the speed today, unfortunately. It was just one of those days where I feel like everybody gave each other pretty good room. We had some incidents here and there, but it was wild to watch. Obviously at the end there, when you’re going for third place, you see the first two mixing it up. You hope they’re going to crash into each other, unfortunately, but that’s just the way it goes.”

    “The fuel number I had to hit, I couldn’t lead.” Rossi added. “Just an amazing effort for the whole Arrow McLaren organization and Team Chevy. It was an amazing month. It’s really hard when you come away from this event not thinking you should’ve changed anything and still, the result isn’t there. I look back and there’s nothing to this month that I would’ve done any differently. The car was great. When you can’t win with that, it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

    “I didn’t have a perfect day, but almost,” Palou added. “Strategy wasn’t the best in our case, but [it] still was good. We tried. We gave everything we had. [We] Didn’t have the ultimate speed today and had fun passing some cars. Pretty happy to finish P5. Not the best result, obviously here, but it was a good race.”

    Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Kyle Larson finished 18th in both his first career start in the NTT IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. In addition, Takuma Sato finished 14th ahead of Graham Rahal, Sting Ray Robb, who led 23 laps as part of his strategic moves, finished 16th ahead of Ed Carpenter and Helio Castroneves ended up 20th,

    There were 52 lead changes for 18 different leaders. The event featured eight cautions for 47 laps. In addition, 21 of 33 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the fifth event of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Alex Palou leads the championship standings by 20 points over Scott Dixon, 26 over Will Power, 49 over both Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta, 52 over Scott McLaughlin and 61 over Josef Newgarden.

    Results.

    1. Josef Newgarden, 26 laps led

    2. Pato O’Ward, 12 laps led

    3. Scott Dixon, 12 laps led

    4. Alexander Rossi, 12 laps led

    5. Alex Palou, one lap led

    6. Scott McLaughlin, 64 laps led

    7. Kyle Kirkwood, two laps led

    8. Santino Ferrucci, eight laps led

    9. Rinus VeeKay, eight laps led

    10. Conor Daly, 22 laps led

    11. Callum Ilott, one lap led

    12. Christian Rasmussen, one lap led

    13. Christian Lundgaard, four laps led

    14. Takuma Sato

    15. Graham Rahal, one lap led

    16. Sting Ray Robb, 23 laps led

    17. Ed Carpenter, three laps led

    18. Kyle Larson, four laps led

    19. Romain Grosjean

    20. Helio Castroneves

    21. Kyffin Simpson, three laps led

    22. Agustin Canapino, one lap down

    23. Colton Herta – OUT, Contact

    24. Will Power – OUT, Contact

    25. Marco Andretti – OUT, Contact

    26. Ryan Hunter-Reay – OUT, Contact

    27. Felix Rosenqvist – OUT, Mechanical

    28. Linus Lundqvist – OUT, Contact

    29. Katherine Legge – OUT, Mechanical

    30. Marcus Armstrong – OUT, Mechanical

    31. Tom Blomqvist – OUT, Contact

    32. Marcus Ericsson – OUT, Contact

    33. Pietro Fittipaldi – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series schedule is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at the Streets of Detroit, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 2, and air at noon ET on USA Network.

  • Newgarden rolls to a dominant victory in the first IndyCar doubleheader feature at Iowa

    Newgarden rolls to a dominant victory in the first IndyCar doubleheader feature at Iowa

    Josef Newgarden took the first swing in the first of an NTT IndyCar Series’ doubleheader feature at Iowa Speedway after winning the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 on Saturday, July 23.

    The two-time IndyCar champion from Hendersonville, Tennessee, led twice for a race-high 208 of 250 laps and managed to retain the top spot through a 76-lap dash to the finish to both carve his way through lapped traffic and hold off a hard-charging Pato O’Ward to claim his fourth victory of the 2022 IndyCar season along with his fourth victory at Iowa.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Will Power earned his 65th IndyCar career pole position after earning the top starting spot with a pole-winning lap at 178.199 mph in 18.0607 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Josef Newgarden, who posted his best qualifying lap at 177.782 mph in 18.1031 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Power rocketed with an early advantage ahead of Newgarden through the first two turns while Pato O’Ward challenged Conor Daly for third place. Following the completion of the first lap, Power’s No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet was out in front by a second over teammate Newgarden while Daly fended off O’Ward and Scott McLaughlin in third place.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Power remained out in front by one-and-a-half seconds over teammate Newgarden followed by Daly, O’Ward and McLaughlin while David Malukas, Rinus VeeKay, Jack Harvey, Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenqvist were in the top 10. Romain Grosjean was in 11th ahead of Alex Palou, Jimmie Johnson, Colton Herta and Takuma Sato while Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Devlin DeFrancesco, Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud were scored in the top 20.

    Seven laps later and with the leader Power approaching lapped traffic, the first caution of the event flew when Jimmie Johnson got loose and spun his No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda in Turn 4. During the caution period, 11 competitors, including Johnson and Ed Carpenter, pitted while the rest led by Power remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 23, Newgarden launched his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet to the lead entering the first turn while Power settled in second ahead of O’Ward, Daly and McLaughlin.

    By Lap 35, Newgarden was out in front by more than three-tenths of a second over teammate Power followed by O’Ward, Daly and Marcus Ericsson while McLaughlin, VeeKay, Malukas, Herta and Rosenqvist occupied the top 10.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Newgarden continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Power while O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet trailed by more than a second in third place. Colton Herta and Ericsson were in the top five while McLaughlin, Helio Castroneves, VeeKay Rosenqvist and Jimmie Johnson were in the top 10. By then, names like Conor Daly, Simon Pagenaud David Malukas and Jack Harvey pitted under green.

    At the Lap 60 mark, Newgarden surrendered the lead to pit along with O’Ward, McLaughlin, Palou, VeeKay, Romain Grosjean, Takuma Sato, Marcus Ericsson, McLaughlin and Alexander Rossi. During the following lap, Power also pitted along with Herta, Rosenqvist, Dixon and Ilott.

    Once the first cycle of green flag pit stops concluded as Johnson, who led a handful of laps, pitted on Lap 80, Newgarden reassumed the lead as he was out in front by more than three seconds ahead of O’Ward while Power, Ericsson and Herta occupied the top five.  

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Newgarden was leading by nearly six seconds over O’Ward while Ericsson overtook Power for third place. McLaughlin was in fifth ahead of Dixon, Johnson, VeeKay, Rosenqvist and Herta while Castroneves, Ilott, Palou, Grosjean and Rossi were in the top 15. 

    Four laps later, Johnson, who pitted on Lap 80 for fresh tires, carved his way into the top five after overtaking teammate Dixon and McLaughlin on the track. Meanwhile, Newgarden remained as the leader by more than six seconds over O’Ward. In addition, Conor Daly pitted his No. 20 Bitnile Dallara-Chevrolet while running inside the top 20.

    Another seven laps later, the caution flew when Felix Rosenqvist, coming off his maiden podium result with Arrow McLaren SP at Toronto, slipped sideways and backed his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet into the Turn 1 outside wall as he became the first competitor to retire. During the caution period, the leaders led by Newgarden pitted and Newgarden retained the lead after exiting his pit stall with the top spot ahead of O’Ward, Ericsson, Power, McLaughlin and Johnson. During the pit stops, trouble ensued for Colton Herta, who encountered a clutch issue to his No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda and could not exit his pit stall. By the time he returned to the track, he lost six laps to the leaders.

    When the event restarted on Lap 123, Newgarden took off with the lead while Ericsson muscled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda into the runner-up spot. Power would also overtake O’Ward for third place.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Newgarden was ahead by four-tenths of a second over Ericsson and Power while O’Ward, McLaughlin, Johnson, Dixon, VeeKay, Palou and Ilott were in the top 10.

    Two laps later and as Power and O’Ward battled for third place, the caution returned due to debris reported on the track.

    When the event returned to green flag conditions on Lap 133, Newgarden retained the lead following another strong start. Through the backstretch, however, Ericsson launched his attack on Newgarden for the lead. During the following lap in Turn 3, both nearly made contact as Newgarden managed to remain as the leader. Another three laps later, Power gained a huge run on Ericsson entering the backstretch to assume the runner-up spot as Newgarden led by nearly half a second.

    With 100 laps remaining, Newgarden continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over teammate Power followed by Ericsson, O’Ward and McLaughlin. Behind, VeeKay and Johnson battled for sixth in front of Palou, Grosjean and Dixon. Rookie Christian Lundgaard was in 11th ahead of Callum Ilott, Castroneves, Devlin DeFrancesco and Alexander Rossi while Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas and Daly occupied the top 20.

    Ten laps later, the battle for the lead ignited between Team Penske’s Newgarden and Power after Newgarden, who briefly lost his momentum while making his way around the lapped car of Simon Pagenaud, had Power settling right behind his rear wing. Meanwhile, O’Ward trailed by more than a second in third place while Ericsson and McLaughlin settled in the top five. 

    On Lap 164, the caution returned when Ed Carpenter spun and wrecked his No. 33 Alzamend Neuro Dallara-Chevrolet against the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. During the caution period, the leaders led by Newgarden pitted as Newgarden retained the lead upon exiting his stall first followed by teammate Power, O’Ward, McLaughlin, Alex Palou and Jimmie Johnson. During the pit stops, Rossi and O’Ward nearly collided on pit road as O’Ward was exiting his pit stall while Rossi was trying to enter his. 

    With 76 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Newgarden continued to lead ahead of teammate Power while Alex Palou overtook O’Ward on the outside lane in Turn 1 to move into third place. As O’Ward attempted to challenge Palou to reclaim the final podium spot, Palou kept his green No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Dallara-Honda ahead of O’Ward’s No. 5 entry as he went to work on Power for the runner-up spot. 

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Newgarden remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over teammate Power followed by Palou, O’Ward and Johnson. Meanwhile, McLaughlin, who was having a strong run towards the front, was two laps behind the leaders following issues during the previous restart as he pitted to address a loose right-rear wheel on his No. 3 Freightliner Dallara-Chevrolet.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Newgarden was leading by half a second over teammate Power while Palou, O’Ward and Johnson retained their spots in the top five. VeeKay settled in sixth ahead of Grosjean, Dixon, Ericsson and Graham Rahal. 

    Ten laps later, Newgarden stabilized his advantage to nearly eight-tenths of a second over teammate Power. Meanwhile, O’Ward was back in third ahead of Palou while VeeKay worked his way back into the top five ahead of Johnson.

    Another 15 laps later, Newgarden stabilized his advantage to nearly six-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor: O’Ward. Power settled back in third followed by Palou and VeeKay while Johnson, Grosjean, Dixon, Ericsson and Rahal were in the top 10.

    With 15 laps remaining, Newgarden extended his advantage to more than a second over O’Ward as Power, Palou and VeeKay settled in the top five. Meanwhile, Johnson fell back to eighth ahead of Rahal and Ericsson while Grosjean was up in sixth in front of Dixon.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Newgarden continued to lead by more than two seconds over O’Ward as the top-10 competitors stabilized their positions on the track.

    With five laps remaining, Newgarden stretched his lead to less than six seconds over O’Ward as VeeKay was up in fourth in between Power and Palou.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Newgarden remained as the leader by more than six seconds over O’Ward. Despite carving his way through lapped traffic, Newgarden was able to cycle his way back to the finish line under cruise control and claim his fourth checkered flag of the 2022 IndyCar season.

    In addition, Newgarden claimed his 24th NTT IndyCar Series career victory, the seventh of the season for Team Penske and first since winning at Road America in June. By winning at Iowa for the fourth time in his career, he also became the all-time winningest competitor at Iowa in the IndyCar Series. In terms of the championship battle, Newgarden now trails points leader Marcus Ericsson by 15 points as he retains his hopes of contending for his third IndyCar title.

    “It was pretty nice and easy out there,” Newgarden said on NBC. “It felt cool today. This car was good. I was surprised at how hard these guys were pushing on these restarts. This was a long game day and I think O’Ward definitely looked like was the toughest competitor all day to beat. I’m really proud of our team. I was disappointed after qualifying. I hate losing and I felt like we had enough to get the job done, and we didn’t. It motivated me. I knew we had the car here today to win this race and in front of this great crowd. This has been a great event and it’s one of my favorite tracks, so to be able to win here again, it’s always very special.”

    “We’re in the [title] fight,” Newgarden added. “We’re relatively there. We just got to figure out how to have more consistency. It’s either winning or going sideways on our weekend. I know we can do better than this. I just know consistently, we can do better than what we’ve been doing, but we’ll get there. I always got faith every weekend I show up with Team Penske.”

    O’Ward muscled his way to a strong runner-up result after finishing no higher than 11th during his three previous IndyCar starts while Will Power collected his fifth podium result of the season by finishing third.

    “I was pushing Josef at the end,” O’Ward said. “We didn’t quite have it, but I have to say the car was really good. We didn’t really start off as strong, but we kept making the car better and better every single stint. There at the end, I just think we took a little bit out of [Newgarden]. Getting by Will [Power] and getting by Alex [Palou] and getting by the lappers to try and catch [Newgarden]. We’ll see what we can make better for tomorrow, but the car was really good. A P2 is really good for where we are in the championship and for our weekend. It’s good to be here. I’m excited for tomorrow.”

    “I was really stoked to finish third,” Power said. “To hang on like that. Man, the tires were so gone at the end. It was crazy. It’s kind of fun like you’re sliding these things a lot. It was a good effort for our Chevy Verizon 5G car. Another top three [finish]. I look back on those as bad days. Good day.” 

    Rinus VeeKay and Dixon finished in the top five while Alex Palou, Grosjean, Ericsson, Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard completed the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson, who led 19 laps, made a strong recovery from his early spin to finish 11th after spending the majority of the event in the top 10.

    “That last run, we just went so far [that] I burned the right-rear tire off the car,” Johnson said. “But still, a very strong performance. Super happy for everybody here at Chip Ganassi Racing. Thankful for the support from Carvana, American Legion, everybody on this program. It was really a lot of fun today to be up there racing. [I] Had the outside lane working a lot of those restarts. Making up spots. Racing had with the regulars up front. It was a lot of fun.”

    There were four lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 33 laps.

    With his top-10 result, Marcus Ericsson continues to lead the standings by 15 points over Josef Newgarden, 22 over Will Power, 33 over Alex Palou, 38 over Scott Dixon, 59 over Pato O’Ward and 93 over Scott McLaughlin.

    Results.

    1. Josef Newgarden, 208 laps led

    2. Pato O’Ward

    3. Will Power, 23 laps led

    4. Rinus VeeKay

    5. Scott Dixon

    6. Alex Palou, one lap down

    7. Romain Grosjean, one lap down

    8. Marcus Ericsson, one lap down

    9. Graham Rahal, one lap down

    10. Christian Lundgaard, one lap down

    11. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down, 19 laps led

    12. Callum Ilott, one lap down

    13. Alexander Rossi, one lap down

    14. David Malukas, one lap down

    15. Kyle Kirkwood, one lap down

    16. Helio Castroneves, one lap down

    17. Devlin DeFrancesco, one lap down

    18. Jack Harvey, one lap down

    19. Conor Daly, one lap down

    20. Dalton Kellett, three laps down

    21. Takuma Sato, five laps down

    22. Scott McLaughlin, six laps down

    23. Simon Pagenaud, six laps down

    24. Colton Herta, eight laps down

    25. Ed Carpenter – OUT, Contact

    26. Felix Rosenqvist – OUT, Contact

    The second NTT IndyCar Series event of the weekend at Iowa Speedway is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 24, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Ed Carpenter to compete in all IndyCar oval events in 2022

    Ed Carpenter to compete in all IndyCar oval events in 2022

    The number 3 is the number of the day for racing veteran and team owner Ed Carpenter, who will be piloting the No. 33 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet in all oval events in this year’s NTT IndyCar Series season.

    Carpenter, a Butler University graduate who was born in Paris, Illinois, but grew up in Indianapolis, will be making his first IndyCar oval start of the season at Texas Motor Speedway on March 20. He will then return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to qualify for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 scheduled for May 29, which will mark his 19th consecutive appearance in motorsports’ greatest spectacle event, before participating in an Iowa Speedway doubleheader feature on July 23 and 24. He will then cap off his racing tenure at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Group on August 20.

    The team took to social media to reveal Carpenter’s racing plans on March 3 (3/3) at 3:33 p.m. (E.T.) with the date marking Carpenter’s birthday as he turned 40 years of age.

    The 2022 season will mark Carpenter’s 20th consecutive season in IndyCar competition. Since making his debut at Chicagoland Speedway in September 2003 through his latest start at World Wide Technology Raceway in August 2021, Carpenter has notched three career victories, four poles, nine podiums and an average-finishing result of 14.3 in 191 career starts. His first IndyCar victory occurred at Kentucky Speedway in October 2011 followed by Auto Club Speedway in September 2012 and at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2014. Three of his four career poles occurred at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500, with his latest occurring in May 2018 as he went on to finish in second place. His best result in an IndyCar standings is 12th place in 2009.

    Following a full-time IndyCar season in 2013, Carpenter scaled back to compete only on the oval venues from 2014 through the present. This season will mark Carpenter’s first sporting a new number after spending the previous 10 seasons piloting the No. 20 entry.

    Carpenter’s team, Ed Carpenter Racing, currently fields two full-time entries. Conor Daly, who is coming off a 21st-place run at the Streets of St. Petersburg to commence the 2022 IndyCar season, is driving the No. 20 Chevrolet while Rinus VeeKay, who finished sixth at the Streets of St. Petersburg, pilots the No. 21 Chevrolet.

    Carpenter is set to make his first NTT IndyCar Series start of the season at Texas Motor Speedway on March 20 with the event scheduled for coverage at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Ed Carpenter Leads Opening Weekend of Practice for Indianapolis 500

    While Sunday was a wash out due to rain, practice for the Indianapolis 500 did begin on Saturday.

    The day was cut short by 45 minutes due to showers, but it was Ed Carpenter who topped the chart at a lap of 224.786 mph (40.0380 seconds) for Sarah Fisher Racing.

    “It’s only day one, but it’s really exciting to see hard work pay off and see progress,” he said. “We’re going to have to keep up the effort because it’s a long week heading into qualifying, but I definitely like the start that we’re off to.”

    The Indianapolis 500 will mark Carpenter’s first event of the season, and also the first event for Sarah Fisher Racing with the No. 67.

    “I was really proud of the boys for starting the month off with little to no error,” Fisher said. “It was a bonus for Ed to top the charts, but we know we still have a lot more work to accomplish. For this being our first race of the season, we know we have to hit the ground running, and to see the team gelling already is a great testament to our people.”

    Fisher announced her retirement last November as she wants to start a family with her husband, Andy O’Gara. Their first child is due September 29th.

    “I’m out of racing shape, that’s for sure,” she said, “I had to stop working out in October, and they don’t make maternity seat belts. But I’m very happy. It is an exciting time, especially to have Ed Carpenter driving for us because he is the perfect fit. He matches the brand, and no doubt that he has a strong performance record here at Indy. So I’m excited about the Race Day and the 100th Anniversary in general.”

    Scott Dixon, 2008 race winner, was second with a lap of 224.491 mph (40.0907 seconds).

    “Today was short and sweet, as we only turned four laps at speed,” he said. “Always great to be back at IMS. Team Target prepped the cars to their usual high standard. Early days, but I can’t wait to get back in the car tomorrow.”

    JR Hildebrand, who topped the Rookie Orientation Program on May 12th, was third.

    “We’re really happy with how the day went,” Hildebrand said. “I probably could have pulled off an even better lap there, but for me it’s still a matter of understanding what I’m expecting to happen compared to what is actually going to happen when I’m out there. The National Guard car felt good, and we didn’t have anything out of the ordinary, and we understand it’s going to be a whole different gig when there are a bunch of different cars out there, as that creates a lot more turbulent air.

    “Thankfully, through Rookie Orientation and again today we’ve been able to make positive steps every time by making small steps every time. If we can keep up the pace of what we’re doing, then it should be positive as we continue to move forward.”

    Last year’s winner Dario Franchitti was fourth while 2006 race runner-up Marco Andretti was fifth.

    “It was a good shakedown of the No. 10t Target car,” Franchitti said. “Both Scott Dixon and I seemed to have good speed right away, but the real work starts on Monday.”

    “It felt really good to get back in the car here in Indy,” Andretti said. “We focused today on getting a few laps in the T car, and tomorrow we’ll move to our primary car. Hopefully we won’t need the T car again, but it’s nice to know where it stands, just in case. I think the Venom team has potential to be strong this month. We’ve typically run well here and have come close to winning a couple times. This would be a great year to get the job done.”

    2009 runner-up Victor Meira was seventh quickest on the speed chart.

    “I think we are cautiously excited,” Meira said. “There’s still a lot to do. We’re still slower than what it will take in qualifying, but the car is good, it’s fast. We did get a draft, but even without the draft, we’re pretty competitive in our times, so we’re excited. It’s the first day, but I think we started the right way and we just have to maintain and improve on what we had today.”

    Other notables include Paul Tracy, who was 11th, and Danica Patrick, who was12th.

    “I thought we had a solid run today,” Patrick said. “The ‘T’ car did great today, so we hope the primary car will run just as well. The Go Daddy team is off to a positive start for May.”

    2004 race winner Buddy Rice was 14th quickest. This is the first time Rice has hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 2008.

    “I feel good, and I’m happy to be back. Everything is going pretty well,” Rice said. “I’m excited to be back here. I wanted to make sure I’d be in good equipment, and the Panther crew has run really well here recently. It’s a great opportunity for me. I’m excited for the centennial. The centennial only comes around once, and there won’t be anything like this for quite a long time, so I’m glad to be a part of it.”

    Dropping the green on practice for Saturday was Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.

    “They were side by side by side by side like a front row coming down the straightaway,” Ballard said. “It was a lot of fun. I will leave Race Day (start) in the hands of the professionals.

    “We’re very lucky to be here for the 100th anniversary because a lot of people are going to be reminiscing about all the events that have gone on before here. Also we have the new chassis to look forward to. And there is a lot of excitement as to what the new cars will look like.

    “This is a great time to celebrate the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the longevity of this race going forward. I always tell people around the world that there is nothing like the month of May in Indianapolis, and I mean that. This is an unbelievable month that really brings the city together. Everybody enjoys it. It’s a great event on Race Day, and they memorialize those veterans who did not come back from serving this county. Obviously, the Speedway does it right.”

    Meanwhile, Sunday consisted of drivers speaking of Indianapolis 500 memories among other topics.

    “It’s unfortunate for us and for the fans that the rain kept us from getting on track today,” Points Leader Will Power said. “The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske guys worked a bit late yesterday afternoon taking the engine out of our T car and putting it in our race car. We were planning on shaking that car down today and then getting started on our process. We will be ready to go tomorrow, and I am excited to get on track and get the Verizon car up to speed.”